House Classification
by mythology1746
Summary: The Houses all have certain predjudices, and there are so many things that are just way out there it's annoying. This is just a rant about the Houses and things me and my friends think should be changed or improved about how they're viewed.


This isn't really a fanfic, but a thing me and my friends came up with (just to note, I am in Slytherin, but most of the friends that helped with this are not). So, there are loads of things out here about the difference between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and the houses in general. First, I'm going to explain the difference of the two "favorite" Houses of the HP world. Ok, so a Gryffindor and a Slytherin are seriously alike - no lie. The largest difference is in the way they would react to a situation. For example, say both had friends being picked on (publicly); either one would show extreme loyalty and help their friend, but they would do it in a different manner. The Gryffindor would tell off (or, you know, curse/hex) whoever was picking on their friend right there, no matter what. It would probably be an impulsive reaction, but no less would get the message across (and/or land someone in the Hospital Wing). The Slytherin would wait for the situation to end before going and plotting something just as effective and using that method to take down the person that was bothering their friend. Both courses of action would make the "bully" suffer, but it's just a matter of how it was accomplished.

Now that I've gotten that out, let's focus on all four Hoses in general. So, we know the shallow end of what all the housed mean: Gryffindors are brave (as well as "the heroes"), Slytherins are cunning/ambitious (otherwise associated with being "Dark wizards"), Ravenclaws are super smart ("clever", some say), and Hufflepuffs are everyone else (although, some people associate Hufflepuff with being nice, friendly, loyal - see below for my opinion on that - or else pathetic). Now, this is looking at things with only face value. If we dig a little deeper, we see that Slytherins are similar to not only Gryffindors, but also Ravenclaws. I've already explained the similarity to Gryffindor, now let me tell you about how we compare to Ravenclaws. Well, Slytherins wait for things to shift into their favor - like in a duel. Likewise, a Ravenclaw would not just start firing hexes and jinxes the way a Gryffindor or even desperate Hufflepuff would. Slytherins and Ravenclaws would probably be on defense (though I must say a Slytherin would slip in a Curse here and there) until there was an opening, at which point they would make sure they had control before going on complete offense.

A prejudice that I'd like to get cleared up (at least here) is the thing about Hufflepuff. For one, the Sorting Hat should honestly put it better; I mean, the hat saying that "Hufflepuff said I'll teach the lot" and Hufflepuff "took all the rest" seems to be setting up that stupid thing about Hufflepuffs are honestly pathetic. Even though I am a Slytherin - and we do weigh into that this prejudice quite a lot - I believe that there is more to being Sorted into Hufflepuff. There's a fanfic I read where someone was so loyal they were Sorted into Hufflepuff. This, I think, is not a trait that is specific to any one House. All the Houses are loyal to each other. I'm in Slytherin, sure, and we might be known for being, ah, cold and cruel and backstabby, but once we have friends, they stay that way (remember the Hat does say at one point Slytherin is where "you'll make true friends" or something like that). We're loyal to each other once the right has been gained - once we know who is trustable. So being loyal won't make you a Hufflepuff. Kindness might be something, though, but above all I think something that defines a Hufflepuff is their honesty. I don't think any of the Hufflepuffs ever actually lie if they can help it; one of my best friends would totally be in Hufflepuff because she literally cannot lie. They're really _not_ pathetic; the Hat just doesn't know how to express this in words.

Ravenclaws, everyone says, should the smartest in the school. Ok, sure that makes sense in a strange, twisted way. I mean, the hat says that if you're in Ravenclaw you have "a ready mind" and are those "of wit and learning" but that doesn't mean what people must be taking it to. So, take Luna Lovegood for example. I'm not actually sure about her on an academic end, but I know that the image most people have of a Ravenclaw is someone that blurts out knowledge. Well, maybe not everyone thinks that, but I do know a lot of people do. At any rate, people think that all the "smarties" are usually in Ravenclaw, but I don't think so. I see a Ravenclaw as someone wise, not necessarily smart. I think that's also one of the main reasons why Hermione's not in that House. She's very smart - "the brightest witch of her age", according to Remus Lupin - but as far as true wisdom goes, she possesses very little. Her mind is too narrow (according to Xeno Lovegood and Prof. Trelawny), and honestly she's just to grounded to be a true Ravenclaw.

Gryffindor has a purely good name, doesn't it? I have no personal animosity toward it, but I think that that title isn't the most appropriate. "Dumbledore was in Gryffindor!" Yeah, ok. Your point? He was just as manipulative and cunning as half the Slytherins out there, perhaps more so than some of us. Just because one of the supposed traits of Gryffindor is "bravery", it doesn't mean heroism. Take Peter Pettigrew: he was a stupid little thing that honestly didn't belong in any of the Houses (and he _especially_ wasn't brave). He was a Gryffindor, and he turned bad. To be Sorted into Gryffindor simply means you have a tendency to act on impulse in a dangerous or difficult situation; it also means you have what I like to call a "hero complex" - a large tendency to try and save everyone first.

And then we arrive on Slytherin, my House. We've got a bad name, sure. It's not our fault we got Volde-freaking-mort in our House. He was a dick, and I'm perfectly aware of that. But you know what? He didn't exactly exhibit the traits that our founder was all for. Sure, Slytherin was ambitious, pretty damn cunning, and knew how to get what he wanted, but he wouldn't have done what Voldemort did. Voldemort is pretty much the embodiment of every single _bad_ prejudice against Slytherin. I'm in Slytherin because (aside from being somewhat evil - only somewhat I swear!) of the way I get things done. If I'm in an argument with someone, I'll likely avoid them until something shifts into my favor. When it does, I'll corner them and make sure I get what I want properly, before I come out and say what is needed. The association of being Dark was most likely formed is the Founder of our House. He had good intentions, but the way he went about them may not have been the...wisest. His I've-hidden-a-monster-in-the-Chamber-of-Secrets-that-will-rid-the-castle-of-Mudbloods thing was probably the dumbest thing he did, but that's just my opinion.

For a moment, I'd like to talk about Harry. Ok, so when he was being Sorted, the Hat told him he would fit in in any of the Houses, really. I don't exactly agree with this. I understand why the Hat said he could be a Slytherin, as there was a bit of Voldemort's soul in him - and, in turn, a bit of Slytherin's ancestry. However, the other Houses I cannot see at _all_. Ok, let's start with Ravenclaw. Harry is too impulsive to even be considered for that House. The Hat says that he "[doesn't have] a bad mind", sure, but he could be Sorted anywhere for that. Also, he's way too irrational and thick-skulled to be in Ravenclaw. I honestly just don't see him in Hufflepuff, mainly because I see Hufflepuff as an all-around-goodie as well as what has already been mentioned, so putting him there just doesn't seem to make sense to me. So, that really leaves us alone with just Slytherin and Gryffindor. Aside from the fact he had no desire to be in Slytherin, he doesn't fit the non-prejudiced idea of what the House is. He's rash. He's impulsive. He has the hero-complex (true that we didn't see that until later on in the books, but still). He is pretty much the "perfect Gryffindor", and that's really all there is to it.

Another thing that seems to be pretty popular is the idea that the teacher that is the Head of a House is that way because of what they teach, not what House they had been in. There are way too many fics out there where Neville is the Herbology teacher and the head of Hufflepuff House. Is that even close to logical? Yes, both Dumbledore and McGonagall (excuse the spelling if it's wrong) were Transfiguration teachers and the Head of Gryffindor, and Slughorn and Snape were Potions Masters and Heads of Slytherin. That, to me, was a coincidence. I would like to note that Dumbledore, McGonagall, Slughorn, and Snape were respectively in Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Slytherin (at least I assume) and Slytherin during their years as students at Hogwarts. It is easy to see that Neville could be the Herbology teacher (I think that might be one of the things we do know about him...or at least, we know he becomes a teacher) but he was never _in_ Hufflepuff, so how he would become the _Head of House_ is totally beyond me.

Something that people should be enlightened on most, though, is that whole situation of _pureblooded families_. Does the family you belong to have any weight in you Sorting? Yes, it does. Take the Weasleys as an example. Bill and Charlie - fine where they are. Those two would probably be Gryffindor no matter what, judging by the fact that both have dangerous jobs and seem super daring. At Percy, I begin to question the likeliness of Gryffindor. In the fifth book, he cared more about making it in the world and kissing his boss's ass than he did about getting fired, doing the right thing, yadda yadda, blah blah blah. He is, to me, a Slytherin. He does what is best for himself above everything else. He makes sure that his needs are satisfied first. Fred and George - they're probably fine where they were, to be honest. They get in too much trouble for Hufflepuff, and they would be seriously shunned as Slytherins, and Ravenclaw? Be serious - this is Fred and George, head pranksters. Yeah, family may not weigh in so much there. Ron, however, seems more Hufflepuff to me. No lie, he's impulsive and thick skulled. But some Hufflepuffs are. I don't really know how to put it into words, but he is totally more Hufflepuff. And then there's Ginny. She is _totally_ Slytherin material. I mean, take it in the first three and a half books: she wouldn't talk to the guy she liked without being a moron. In the fifth book, she decides to try and make him jealous. She knows a fair share of Hexes, and would probably be kick-ass at manipulation if she tried.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Sirius Black is the prime example of that. All the Blacks have been in Slytherin longer than he can remember, but he was Sorted into Gryffindor. The best thing I can compare that to is the odd case of Dobby. Dobby was a House-Elf that didn't like serving his masters. Don't misunderstand, I love both Dobby and Sirius, but both were sort of born...defected, you could say. They didn't "fit in" with the norm (species for Dobby and family for Sirius) and they were shunned but still happy. Sirius was just born different. There's a theory that if you were raised so heavily in something, you might just hate it. That's not _always_ true from generation to generation, but eventually it will catch up with someone down the family tree. It happens all the time in real life, so it can obviously happen here as an exception to the family/Sorted-into-same-House thing.

So there you have my rant. I hope it entertained anyone that lasted long enough to read it.


End file.
